(2001 census)

Religions:

Roman Catholic 26.8%, Protestant 2.1%, other 3.3%, unspecified 8.8%,
unaffiliated 59% (2001 census)

Languages:

Czech 94.9%, Slovak 2%, other 2.3%, unidentified 0.8% (2001 census)

Literacy:

definition: NA
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 99% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 15 years
male: 15 years
female: 15 years (2006)

Education expenditures:

4.4% of GDP (2004)

Government
Czech Republic

Country name:

conventional long form: Czech Republic
conventional short form: Czech Republic
local long form: Ceska Republika
local short form: Cesko

Government type:

parliamentary democracy

Capital:

name: Prague
geographic coordinates: 50 05 N, 14 28 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last
Sunday in October

Administrative divisions:

13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and 1 capital city* (hlavni
mesto); Jihocesky (South Bohemia), Jihomoravsky (South Moravia),
Karlovarsky, Kralovehradecky, Liberecky, Moravskoslezsky
(Moravia-Silesia), Olomoucky, Pardubicky, Plzensky (Pilsen), Praha
(Prague)*, Stredocesky (Central Bohemia), Ustecky, Vysocina, Zlinsky

Independence:

1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and
Slovakia)

National holiday:

Czech Founding Day, 28 October (1918)

Constitution:

ratified 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993

Legal system:

civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has not accepted
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code modified to bring it in line
with Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
obligations and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory

Suffrage:

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: President Vaclav KLAUS (since 7 March 2003)
head of government: Prime Minister Mirek TOPOLANEK (since 9 January
2007); Deputy Prime Ministers Petr NECAS (since 9 January 2007),
Martin BURSIK (since 9 January 2007), and Alexandr VONDRA (since 9
January 2007)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of
the prime minister
elections: president elected by Parliament for a five-year term
(eligible for a second term); last successful election held 15
February 2008 (after earlier elections held 8 and 9 February 2008
were inconclusive;